NEWS FROM THE STUDIO
Get the up-to-date news of Susan’s upcoming exhibitions, process photo spreads, the life of being an artist, and news of the inner workings of the art world.
Keep up with news about modern art and fiber art from artist Susan Hensel.
Being a public facing artist | Make Art | Susan Hensel Projects
Being a public-facing artist? “What on earth does she mean?” People make art for lots of good reasons. For some artmaking is a hobby, fit into their days and weeks for the sheer pleasure of creation. They may sometimes share/give away the artwork to trusted friends and family. They may display the artwork around their homes. For some, making art is a way to understand themselves. It is therapeutic, soothing, a mostly private act like journaling. For some it is a spiritual act, like prayer or meditation. For some of us, making art is or becomes a passion that produces [...]
Titles Are Weird Things | New Work | Susan Hensel Projects
Titles Are Weird Things New Work Titles are weird things. I make new work all the time. Sometimes I know, right from the beginning, what the title of the work will be. But, more often than not, the finished piece takes time to reveal itself. Sometimes the piece is withholding and it takes help to find the title. That was the case with this piece. I knew that the piece was talking about weather changes, ocean currents, magnetic poles...all kinds of climate change things! The oceans are key to our survival even as they rise and consume [...]
Making a new artwork! | Chromatic Wave 4 | Susan Hensel Projects
Making a new artwork! Chromatic Wave 3 at Susan Hensel Projects There is a lot that goes into making any artwork. I thought I’d take you behind the scenes again. I wanted to see what would happen if I up-sized Chromatic Wave 1, Chromatic Wave 3 was just finished last week. Chromatic Wave 1 is only 24 ” w. Chromatic Wave 3 is 77″ tall! Architectural in scale. The digitizing took an afternoon. The stitching took about two days. The cutting, sewing and ironing took another day. At this scale, movement of the pleats into new forms was [...]
What is Art Storage | Next steps | Susan Hensel Projects
What is Art Storage? or What are the next steps on the Triptik? What is Art Storage. In the last blog post I talked about finding my way in this long, circuitous career. At the first of every year I sit down and write some goals for the year. It’s more like a task list in my case. My tasks this year revolve around taking care of the artwork and meeting with my attorney to update the estate plans as necessary. […]
What’s Your Time Frame? | Musings | Susan Hensel Projects
What’s your time frame? Career path musings It is hard sometimes to see the road ahead. Could this be particularly so for artists? Maybe. What’s Your Time Frame? We are dreamers, imaginers. Our families have often labeled us as impractical, as though the drive to make art was a choice! I know that describes me. I did not chose art. Art chose me just as much as my gender expression did. My career path has been long. I’ve exhibited, from the midwest, all over the United States in group and solo shows, in small alternative venues and museums. I even [...]
Genesis of an Artwork | Nothing Wasted | Susan Hensel Projects
Genesis of an Artwork Nothing Wasted at Susan Hensel Projects Artworks come from various sources…including failure! Experimentation and intuition are key-words for Susan Hensel Projects. Genesis of an Artwork. When people visit the studio and see me at work, they are often astounded. They expect that everything I do is strictly mechanical…that I design the artwork in the computer and then let the embroidery machine do its thing…turning out perfect, completed hands-free objects every time. Boy oh boy! That hardly ever, if ever, happens! Let me take you through how Solar Tide came to be. You will be astounded, too. [...]
How Shows Travel | the value of bodies of work |Susan Hensel
How Shows Travel or the value of a body of work! How do my shows travel? By UPS!!! Duh! […]
COVID-19 And Art, Time-No-Time
COVID-19 And Art, Time-No-Time My friends and I named the epidemic the “TIME-NO-TIME”. But, the interaction of COVID-19 and art, the epidemic cancelled my exhibition schedule in one fell swoop. After 50 years of making and exhibiting artwork at almost all times...the work had nowhere to go. Of course, the first response was panic. In order to assert a little control over the TIME-NO-TIME, I decided to study and learn more about the trends in the global art market. I enrolled in an intensive class on artwork economics with Christie’s Auction House, studying under Dr. Clare McAndrew, a world-renowned analyst [...]
The Work of an Artist | completing a commision | Susan Hensel Projects
On some level, the work of an artist is never done.Or another cliché: Old artists never retire. Completing a Commission The Work of an Artist. Sometime ago I received a commission from an art consultant out of Atlanta who had been trying to find a fit for my work. We had been communicating for several months before something landed. The commission came in, requesting that I make 12 “bookblocks,” all different, but in a muted palette of indigo, beige, misty blue and some black. And could I do it in 3 months? Was that doable? probably not unless I began [...]
Good Things Come to Those Who Wait | Susan Hensel Projects | publication
Good Things Come to Those Who Wait Or so they say. Actually it takes paying attention and rattling a few cages sometimes. I first started working with Al-Tiba9 Contemporary Art a couple of years ago. They are a gallery and publisher out of Barcelona. I was intrigued with their exhibition program as well as their design work. […]
Middle Ground | New Exhibition | Susan Hensel |
Middle Ground a new exhibition April 2022 St. Paul’s Benedictine Monastery, St. Paul, MN From vastly differing beginnings these two artists meet in concert on the spiritual path. Both come from a sculptural background, well rounded in their art. James Quinten Young works in found materials, Susan Hensel works from a computer foundation to create her vision. Both bring us their vision of our place in the universe. Here we meet these differing perspectives where their spiritual journey marks the way for us to journey with them along this path. – Kathy Fleming, curator […]
Bending Toward Beauty | Online Solo Show | Susan Hensel Projects
Bending Toward Beauty online solo show While we certainly hope that the pandemic is waning…there are some remaining opportunities that developed during the darkest days: online exhibitions! […]